Shutter speed probably had nothing to do with it. You were simply too close to focus without a macro lens or close up diopter.

skieur

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correct, you were just too close for your lens to focus properly. try stepping back some and using the zoom to compensate... the more zoom you use with this method, the more light you'll need to have also... some of that can be compensated with by using a higher ISO (makes the image more sensitive to light)

when you look at the image on your camera, sometimes you cannot see it's out of focus still, but once you got it home, surely you noticed it wasn't in focus.

same advice with using manual mode... i'd stay away from it for the time being... what type of camera are you shooting with? that will play a large part in the level of adjustments you are able to tinker with.

I have a samsung GX 10 which is the same as the Pentax k710 I think. I've gotten into the habbit of adjusting the aperture and shutter speed myself. I know how to use the various other settings, AV, TV etc. I was actually just reading up in my book, and it was suggesting that when taking a lot of shots, it can be good to let the camera do the work on aperture if you are setting the shutter speed yourself. I just realised too that my camera has a magic button that when in manual mode it shows you the right optimum settings.